The subject invention relates generally to an interactive, computer-based method and system for generating and displaying an icon representing the relationships between a given concept and other concepts both pre-dating and post-dating the original concept, and, more particularly, to a method and system for generating and displaying such a relationship between a subject patent reference and other patent references pre-dating and post-dating the subject patent reference.
In an effort to rapidly quantify and identify novelty and uniqueness of data which has intrinsic elements requiring differentiation between historical and present iterations, numerous efforts have been made to graphically represent data generated sequentially in time. For example, word-processing technology has long provided users the ability to compare subsequent versions of documents with earlier versions by identifying and setting off changes made at different times by different persons.
In the field of intellectual property, software to characterize intangible property claims and to provide genealogically based presentations based on references embedded within existing documents have been developed and deployed by various parties.
However, no systematic process has been established to graphically represent multidimensional, multitemporal data relationships in a two-dimensional form or multi-iteration data so that the xe2x80x9cpositionxe2x80x9d of data with respect to its uniqueness or stage of iteration can be simultaneously sorted and used as a database archival-retrieval address for aggregating and presenting the data in multiple formats or lists. Furthermore, no system has been developed to quickly and efficiently generate and display in a single, simple, uniform graphic depiction the relevance and interrelatedness of patents and concepts to a specified patent or concept both preceding and following a specified patent or concept in time.
Another problem in analyzing multiple generations of prior and subsequent history for one patent or concept in relation to another is that fully displaying such information in a hierarchical fashion, such as a tree, quickly occupies too much display space, requiring paging through multiple displays, and looses its informational value due to the volume of data being presented. It is difficult to limit the amount of information being displayed and visible at one time on one display surface while still making the information which is actually displayed both relevant and meaningful. What was required was a translatable symbolic representation which would reduce multirelational, multitemporal, multidimensional information to a simple, easily understood two dimensional model.
The present invention relates to a computer-implemented system and method for determining and visually representing in an easily comprehensible fashion the likely uniqueness and novelty of a subject concept, which may have been published in a reference or not, as compared to other concepts, each of which has been published in a reference, where the other concepts were published on various dates, some of which may have preceded the date of the subject concept and some of which may be subsequent to that of the subject concept. A permanent computer database is established containing all of the other published references. These concepts may represent one or more text-based references, such as patents and literature, sound data or video data. In one embodiment, the full text of a first published reference contained in the permanent database is extracted from the database along with identifying information. Then, multiple temporary databases are constructed containing at least identifying information for discrete separate references related to the first published reference where the contents of each of which has a different temporal relationship to the first published reference. Next, a multi-element morphogenetic icon is built for each of the discrete references stored in at least one of the temporary databases. This icon includes one element symbolizing the first published reference and a separate element associated with and representing each of the temporary databases. Finally, selected data for each of the discrete references is extracted from the permanent database and displayed along with the morphogenetic icon associated with that discrete reference. A primary object of the invention is to enable an n-dimensional relationship between concepts to be transformed and reduced to a two-dimensional representational icon. A further object of the invention is to enable anyone with access to the public Internet or a network connected to the system of the invention to access and view a morphogenetic icon which quickly provides in a visual format an easily understood representation of the conceptual relationship between a given reference and other references over a period which may begin before and extend until after the publication date of the given concept. Yet another object of the invention is to provide a user with a simple visual indicator concerning the likely degree of uniqueness and novelty of a subject concept. Still a further object of the invention is to provide a method for quickly analyzing the uniqueness of a subject concept in the context of a very large number of other references. An additional object of the invention is to provide a system for analyzing the uniqueness of a subject concept and for displaying the results of that analysis in an easily comprehensible form.